AdLit.org is a national multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers. AdLit.org is an educational initiative of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital, and is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and by the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation.

Letters from the White House contest

We have our winners!

We were thrilled that more than 1,500 students sent in letters or journal entries for our Letters from the White House creative writing contest. We received letters from students all over the country, including Burlingame High School in California; the Miami-Dade Family Learning Partnership in Florida; St. Thomas Apostle School in Woodhaven, New York; Pocahontas Middle School in Powhatan, Virginia; Adams Elementary School in Janesville, Wisconsin; and Catoosa Wells Middle School in Catoosa, Oklahoma.

These students explored the history of America and tapped into their own creativity by imagining and writing about the experience of living or working in the Executive Mansion.

Séances in the Red Room, a ladybug in the punch, and a ticklish rug in the Oval Office are just a few of the things to look forward to reading in the winning entries.

Thank you to our judges!

Lynda Johnson Robb is the elder of the two daughters of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson. She served as First Lady of Virginia from 1982 to 1986 and as Second Lady of Virginia from 1978 to 1982. Children's literacy is a strong interest of Mrs. Robb's and she serves on the Board of Reading Is Fundamental, the nation's largest children's literacy organization and the Advisory Board of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance.

Betty C. Monkman, White House Curator Emeritus, worked in the White House curator's office beginning in 1967, and served as curator from 1997-2001. She planned and curated the first exhibition on the White House in 1992 and has written numerous articles on White House decorative arts and several books including Treasures of the White House and The Living White House.

Certificates and Prizes

We want to acknowledge the wonderful work of all the students who participated in the Letters from the White House contest. Please feel free to download and print an official Certificate of Participation.

Grand prize winners will receive:

Publication of their letter or journal entries on ReadingRockets.org and AdLit.org